15. Rome was bombed heavily by the Allies while occupied by the Germans
From the autumn of 1943 through the spring of 1944, the doctors and priests in the hospital on the Tiber continued to admit refugees, labeled them with the false diagnosis of a fictional illness, and provided them with shelter from the Germans. They did so at significant risk to their own lives, in an atmosphere of the continuous danger of discovery. Throughout the period of the German occupation, Rome was subject to Allied bombing, including the many properties outside of the Vatican’s Walls which were nonetheless owned by the Catholic Church. The Pope and the American President exchanged several notes in which the former pleaded with Roosevelt to discontinue the air raids.
The Vatican itself was bombed twice during the air campaigns, once accidentally by the British, and in another instance a raid was attributed to the Germans. The hospital on the Tiber, clearly identified as such, was not a target of the bombing raids. The final air raid over Rome, conducted by the United States Army Air Force, caused the death of over 100 civilians within the city. The bombing of Rome was yet another backdrop of the subterfuge which took place in the city to protect civilians and the city’s Jewish population. The final bombing raid took place in March, 1944.